1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a cable operated aerial tramway and more particularly to a system for supporting and conveying equipment, such as photographic and video equipment, in either direction along an aerial path defined by a cable.
2. Description of the Related Technology
The challenge of continuously filming moving objects traveling over moderate to long distances has, up to the present time, fostered a number of techniques, none of which have been entirely satisfactory. According to one method, a series of fixed location cameras spot the traveling subject at a distance and rotate as the subject approaches and moves past--much in the way that downhill skiing events are currently filmed. According to another method, a camera is mounted on a ground vehicle that travels along side the subject. In still another method, the filming is done from an aircraft, for example, a helicopter.
Unfortunately, each of the known methods for filming an object as it travels over a distance has significant attendant disadvantages. The use of a series of fixed cameras which rotate to follow the subject as it passes by has the disadvantage that for the filming of a subject that travels over considerable distances, a large number of cameras and camera operators are necessary. Further, for each camera, the subject is, for the most part, at some distance from the camera and is only near the camera as it passes by the fixed location, often at considerable speed. The use of ground vehicles has the disadvantage of being severely limited to smooth and firm terrain and is entirely unsuitable for the filming, for example, of downhill skiing events. While the use of rails to carry a vehicle over rough or unsteady terrain has had wide use, even the use of rails is limited to a certain range of terrain.
The use of aircraft has the disadvantage of often being, for safety reasons, too distant from the action to achieve closeups or other desired footage.
Attempts have been made to avoid the aforementioned disadvantages through the use of systems in which a camera is suspended from, and travels along, one or more cables. However, these systems have had the disadvantages of being too noisy and too heavy, of not being able to move back and forth along the same line, or not having sufficient power, speed, acceleration, deceleration, and responsiveness in both directions, or not having sufficiently smooth starting and stopping for the obtaining of good start and end filming frames.